matt eberflus is joining the San Francisco 49ers as the team’s assistant head coach of defense, adding an experienced voice to a defensive staff that has already undergone notable change. The move places him in a role that had been filled by Gus Bradley, with Raheem Morris now in place as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator.
What Happens When Matt Eberflus steps into the assistant head coach of defense role?
The 49ers are bringing in Matt Eberflus to serve as assistant head coach of defense. The role is the one vacated by Gus Bradley, who departed to Tennessee alongside former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. San Francisco, meanwhile, hired Raheem Morris as defensive coordinator to replace Saleh, setting the stage for a new defensive leadership structure that now includes matt eberflus.
Eberflus, 55, has held a range of defensive responsibilities in the NFL. He was the defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts from 2018 through 2021. He then served as the Chicago Bears head coach from 2022 through 2024. After that, he worked as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator in 2025, a tenure that ended after one season when Dallas made major changes to its coaching staff following another year without a playoff berth.
What If San Francisco is targeting specific defensive fixes this offseason?
The hire is being interpreted as a sign San Francisco is looking closely at particular areas within the defense rather than simply adding a familiar name. One stated view is that linebacker play could be a focal point, described as a strong suit for Eberflus based on his work as a position coach. In that framing, the value is less about a schematic overhaul and more about sharpening execution, development, and performance at a position group that can define a defense’s week-to-week reliability.
San Francisco’s linebacker room also has roster pressure points heading into the offseason: the team used a third-round pick on Nick Martin, and Dee Winters has one year remaining on his contract. That backdrop creates an evaluation window for determining who can play next to Fred Warner and whether the roster already contains the long-term answer.
There is also an asserted stylistic preference tied to Eberflus’s defenses: the importance of an interior pass rusher. If that preference carries influence in San Francisco, it could shape offseason priorities, including interest in a 3-technique defensive lineman.
What Happens When past results collide with a new mandate?
The hiring comes with a mixed statistical trail across his most recent stops. Using cumulative defensive statistics from 2018 through 2021, Indianapolis ranked 12th in EPA per play and 18th in defensive success rate. The Bears, under Eberflus, were 29th in EPA per play and 26th in success rate. In Dallas this past season, the defense finished 32nd and 31st in EPA per play and success rate.
His Bears tenure also carried reputational baggage. Chicago endured a 14-game losing streak described as a franchise record, and Eberflus became the first head coach in Bears history to be fired mid-season.
Dallas’ defensive struggles were stark in raw output as well: the Cowboys allowed 30. 1 points per game and 251. 5 passing yards per game in the regular season. Dallas moved on after one year and hired Christian Parker, previously the Philadelphia Eagles defensive backs coach, as the next defensive coordinator.
Against that context, the 49ers’ move reads as a bet on role fit: adding Eberflus as an assistant head coach of defense alongside Raheem Morris, instead of installing him as the primary defensive play-caller. The structure suggests a focus on support, oversight, and specialized improvement rather than a single-person rebuild.
Looking ahead on the schedule horizon, Eberflus will have a chance to prepare San Francisco’s defense for Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense when the 49ers visit Dallas during the 2026 regular season, though the date has not been determined.
